Five Things We Learned About Today's Roster Moves

1. These moves were made by Gregg Berhalter.As the team’s new coach and sporting director, Berhalter has spent the last two weeks working
to get up to speed on the roster in addition to trying to fill out his staff.

After cutting ties with Jairo Arrieta, Danny O’Rourke, Gláuber, Drew Beckie, Kyle Hyland and
Konrad Warzycha, Berhalter made no bones about who was responsible for the decisions.

“Part of the role is I’m in charge of the technical side of it so I have to take responsibility
for these decisions,” he said. “I obviously talked to (team president) Mark (McCullers). “I think
he has a lot of experience, but in the end I’m the one who has to make the decision.”

Berhalter said it’s not necessarily a situation he relishes.

“I don’t like it,” he said. “Trust me, that’s the hardest part of this job, to tell a guy, ‘Hey
we’re not picking up your option.’ The younger guys that I haven’t even seen play, I have to call
some of them and tell them they’re not part of the plans anymore. That’s difficult. With the other
three, I think it becomes a little bit easier because it is straightforward. It’s a financial
decision. It wasn’t necessarily based on them, it’s based on what we’re dealing with in terms of
the salary cap.”

2. These moves were all based around the salary cap.Gláuber was the third-highest paid player on the roster. Arrieta was fifth and O’Rourke was
seventh. That’s a lot of money for a center back coming off of major knee surgery, a forward who
slumped drastically in his sophomore season and a local product who has battled injuries for
several seasons.

All three could be options to return for next season, however – at the right price.

“That’s something that’s going to be determined over the course of the next couple weeks,” he
said. “We’ll see where we stand with these guys, what number is reasonable for them – if any – and
if they’re a part of the plans moving forward. I spoke to them personally and told them what our
plans were for not renewing their option. In terms of them being part of the future, we have to
discuss that. That’s something that’s up for discussion.”

Talks have not yet started with those three players, Berhalter said.

Time is ticking for O’Rourke. He is subject to the league’s re-entry policies, and if he is not
signed in advance of the first stage of the draft Dec. 12 he could be drafted by another team.

3. Things are progressing for the three players currently out of contract.Goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, forward/midfielder Dominic Oduro and defender Josh Williams are
all still in negotiations with the Crew to return next year. All three seem likely to be back.

“We’ll probably announce a couple of signings in the next week in terms of hopefully getting
some of the deals done that we’ve been working on with the current guys we have,” Berhalter said. “
Hopefully we’ll be able to announce some good news on that front. Then we’ll continue on with the
college scouting. We’ll have the waiver draft on Monday and then prepare for the re-entry draft on
the 12th.”

The four players who were guaranteed for next season are Federico Higuain, Chad Marshall, Wil
Trapp and Agustin Viana.

4. Forward has become a position of need.As it stands today, the Crew has three forwards under contract: Ryan Finley, Aaron Schoenfeld
and Higuain. There are also five defenders on the roster, but Berhalter admitted that the attacking
end of the field will be a key focus for the offseason.

“I would say we’re certainly going to be looking in the attacking area to make improvements,” he
said. “Defensively, it’s looking at the group as a whole and seeing what we can add to it.”

5. Berhalter will look to make trades as one way to improve the roster.“I think the league in general, there’s a reluctance to make a trade in the league,” he said.
“ We’re open to it. If it’s going to help the club, that’s what we look at first.”

As for where the Crew might be active as it acquires players, Berhalter said, “I would say
waiver draft, probably less so. Re-entry draft 1, who knows. If there’s a guy at a good price that
we think can help the roster, we’ll certainly do that. Re-entry 2 is certainly an option. Then
there’s the college draft, trading opportunities, foreign player acquisitions, so there’s a bunch
of things and we’re going to look into all of them.”

The Crew might not be at 30 rostered players when preseason camp begins, but Berhalter said that
is not a concern.

“We’ll probably be close to that, but I don’t think it’s the number that matters too much,” he
said. “I want to focus on the quality of the players that we have.”

BONUSSince today’s moves were announced, the primary question I’ve gotten from readers has
concerned why Tony Tchani was retained. I asked Berhalter what he thought of the polarizing Crew
midfielder.

“At this stage I’m not going to comment on individuals,” he said. “I would say that he’s
definitely a talented player. I don’t want to get too deeply involved into it. I want to be able to
work with him myself. He has ability.”